WALSALL travel to Wrexham tomorrow after an unusual week at Bescot Stadium.

WALSALL travel to Wrexham tomorrow after an unusual week at Bescot Stadium.

For only the second time this season, the Saddlers have had a league defeat to digest, following the 2-0 reverse to Swindon.

That reduced Walsall's lead at the top of League Two to seven points - hardly crisis territory.

But successive defeats would give the chasing pack some hope that Richard Money's men can be reeled back in.

Victory at Wrexham, on the other hand, would be an emphatic reassertion of the Saddlers' authority.

And as Money this week pondered his strategy for the trip to north Wales, he has sensed a real sense of purpose in his players to bounce straight back from last Saturday's dip.

"I am hugely impressed by the mentality of this group of players," the Saddlers' manager said. "This week's it's been made crystal clear to me again just how much they dislike losing.

"They even hate conceding a goal. We have gone three games without a clean sheet now and that's a sequence they are very keen to end.

"Wrexham will be a tough game. They have conceded fewer goals at home than anyone in the division except us and are a different proposition at home to away.

"Also they have just had a very poor result and performance at Boston and if I know Denis Smith he will have them well revved up this weekend."

Walsall's preparations have been hampered by a water-logged training ground.

But Money has turned that inconvenience into a positive by using the time for fitness work with his players as they close in on the ever-hectic festive programme."

"The training ground has been underwater so that's given us an opportunity to get in some extra conditioning work," he said. "That extra burst will benefit the players because they have a very busy spell coming up."

Money must decide whether to restore Hector Sam to the starting XI against his former club.

If Walsall start strong tomorrow, they could find the pressure quickly grow on opposition languishing just three points above the bottom two.